


Open Wounds

by orphan_account



Series: Skin Deep [5]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Gen, Mild Gore, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 21:13:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7070494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trowa formed quite the collection over the years, but he did have a few that were his favourite.</p>
<p>Duo's heart shouldn't have skipped a beat at the shy little smile the creature gave him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Open Wounds

The small apartment was the same way he had left it a few days ago. Cold, dark, and empty. His body shifted through the slatted strips of moonlight as he slunk inside, the door locking behind him in a mixture of physical restraint and magical deterrence. If a thief did manage to get past the deadbolt, they’d be in for a nasty surprise.

Not that they’d live to regret it.

He pressed his nose against the door to the closet, letting his magic flow through him and releasing the protective spells that laced the converted second bedroom. The illusion faded, the missing wall revealed and allowing Trowa to step through in the small feline body, unimpeded by door knobs and latches. It was a pain how humans designed their dwellings, having to use joints that other creatures didn’t have to allow them access to the spaces within and outside, and the first thing Trowa had done upon taking one for himself was remove those limitations. There was no point in staying in a space where he had to retain a human skin to use it.

But that was what he was here for, as he stepped into the chilled room. He stretched his body out, back arching as his magic let go of the rigorous hold he was keeping on the feline pelt. The earlier expulsion of his skin, and the return of it, had not been kind to the cat’s skin, and after he was done dealing with his human and the pet, he’d take the time to fix and care for it. But for now, he let it fall to the floor, his magic roiling around his bare form as he picked up another skin to don.

While he kept many pelts and skins, he had a few favourites he’d retained over the years. The feline form was by far his most used, but he couldn’t live among the modern humans without becoming one of them as well; the most dangerous thing for a creature like him was to give himself away. It didn’t mean he was _interested_ in what they were like, but he had to be able to pass himself off as one for long enough to survive. When it came time to walk among the humans as one of them, he preferred the oldest human skin he had, having been soaked and exposed with his magical essence to the point where it felt more of an extension of himself than a binding force.

Because of that familiarity, it did not take much effort to slide the skin on over his form, letting his power leak out and sink into the preserved tissues. Skin mended together, sealing and shifting so that the seam closed tight, non-existent, and moved his sensory receptors to their proper places. The muscle memory gained from devouring the rest of the flesh’s original form allowed his body to adapt to take that space, mimicking the once-living tissue.

While he might not have human blood flowing through his veins, or have a human heart beating inside his chest, his own mimicked it well enough to fool the other humans. It stimulated the flesh, keeping it as fresh and alive as the day he tore it from the human whom had it first. It pebbled in the cold, a shiver racing through his body as his human senses kicked in, recognizing the stimuli around it.

He bent down, picking up the shedded pelt, and gingerly set it on its shelf, folding it neatly so that the cat ears perked up, and the tail curled around the outside. He stroked his fingers along her head for a moment, looking into the empty eyes of the crumpled face, and then left the room, the hole fading from view, sealing back up into the mimicry of a wall once more.

* * *

“He’s not coming back,” Duo said, stretched out along the three-seated sofa. Wufei was curled up in his favourite wing-backed chair, a blanket wrapped around his legs and a book balanced on his knee.

“She will,” Wufei said, a level of conviction in his voice that Duo couldn’t hold faith in.

“What makes you think that?” he asked, fingers trailing patterns idly on the carpeted floor. Wufei paused in his reading long enough to look up at Duo with a look that had his neck flushing before he could stop himself.

“Because, Duo, she has a thing for you.”

“You make that sound a lot more suggestive than it is,” Duo muttered. Wufei shrugged.

“You’re the one with a skinwalker stalking you. I’d be a bit more concerned.”

“I _am_ concerned!” Duo snapped, voice rising. “I have a skinwalker chasing me across the city, following my every move, and has a biting fetish!”

“Which doesn’t make sense,” Wufei mused, eyes back on the book in his lap, fingers trailing along the page. “I mean, there’s not much to go on as far as recorded information on Skinwalkers. But nothing points to them eating people. As far as supernatural beings, the only danger they pose to people is when they’re in search of a new skin to wear. And they don’t exactly collect those, you know. Skinwalkers only keep, at most, five skins. If she wanted your skin, she’d have taken it by now. She wants something else from you. Which,” he added with a decisive nod, “is why she’ll come back.”

“Do skinwalkers even have a gender?” Duo asked, brow furrowing. Wufei shrugged.

“Not that I’ve found in my readings. They take on the gender of the body they’re wearing. I’m used to seeing the skinwalker as a female cat.”

“You also have a very rigid point of view and refuse to update your language when it comes to what you observe.”

Wufei didn’t even look apologetic.

“You have a point. So, _Trowa_ is coming back. I wonder in what skin. I can’t believe _you_ of all people found a skinwalker. That’s… really not fair.”

“Why?” Duo asked, ignoring the stab of hurt. He knew Wufei didn’t mean it cruelly, and the flush that formed on his friend’s cheeks confirmed it.

“Not to say anything’s wrong with you—it’s just. I’ve studied them my _whole_ life. You’ve… had your eyes on other pursuits, only reading about them in relation to your own studies. You weren’t even out to find one, and yet you did.”

“Apparently, I’m delicious,” Duo teased, fingers rubbing at the bite mark on his thigh. He let the subject change, not clinging to the implication of being unworthy of what he’d discovered. He had some bad history, history what wouldn’t repair itself overnight, or over the years. There’d always be that dark spot in their friendship, the absence of time that could never be filled, or mended. They could reconcile all they liked, but time would not heal all wounds. Wufei gratefully latched onto the opening granted him.

“There are so many questions I have to ask! So much information missing, information that could allow us further insight into Skinwalker culture, history, mannerisms, lifestyles… We barely have any knowledge, but we know they’ve existed for thousands of years. Do you know how _frustrating_ that is?!”

“Yes. You say that. Quite often, in fact.”

Wufei ignored him.

“The only records pertain to the value of their parts on the black market, some references to their language, and the dangers of encountering one. But there’s nothing on how they feed, reproduce, or live. Do they live in family units, or solitude? Do they _have_ a culture?”

Duo tuned him out, having heard this several times over the years. The man had been obsessed with Skinwalkers before the two had met, and it’d only grown worse over time. While they no longer staked out potential skinwalkers, they did spend a lot more time delving through old, questionable archives, searching for leads and clues to further their knowledge.

Both of them jumped when the chime of the doorbell sounded through the house, cutting off Wufei’s rant and Duo’s train of thought. Both of them looked at each other, Wufei’s lips stretching into a grin a moment later.

“I told you, she’d come back.”

“ _She_ could be Relena,” Duo pointed out, having heard Wufei give her a rundown of the situation when he’d called to ask her to do cleanup duty. But when Duo opened the door, it was not to the peaceful, serene face of their friend and benefactor. It was a stranger who stood on the other side, a good several inches taller than Duo, hair trimmed short in the back and bangs hiding half his face from view in an auburn wave. A long face with a sharp jaw and rigid nose had two hazel-green eyes which glimmered in a way that had Duo’s neck prickling, the taste of magic in the air almost as familiar as his own. It brushed against him, much like a finger stroking down his neck, before it vanished entirely.

“Trowa,” Duo greeted, certain that this stranger was, in fact, the cat that had followed him, had saved him earlier that evening, and had ruined his life over the last several weeks. The shy little smile he received was not suited for a creature with that rap list.

It shouldn’t have made his heart skip a beat, either.

* * *

_“Skinwalkers only pose a danger to other creatures when they embark on a hunt for a new skin. Otherwise, they are content to keep to themselves, sleeping and strengthening their magic.”  
– Chang Lau,  Encyclopedia of Supernatural Beings, XXV Edition_


End file.
